The film begins with good thunder; a surfing party
of agents storm the coast of North Korea and end up
blowing up everything in sight. This mission goes
smoothly (by Bond standards) except
for one snag -- 007 (Pierce Brosnan), accused of
killing the General's son, is nabbed, interrogated
and tortured by the N. Korean government. Opening
credits are held in order to roll over a surreal,
music video torture sequence. Backed by an edgy
Madonna tune chorusing the film's title, these two or
three minutes are awesome, harsh, hallucinogenic,
organic. Sexy figures of fire and ice dance and spark
in and out of Bond's tormented head. Kudos to all
involved in this exceptional sequence.

The initial thunder is followed by a whole lot of
bang and bangs, but not a great deal of logic. In
fact, dare I say this film may be over-packed with
action. An exciting ride at first,
cadences of pure finesse are few and far between;
their shortage dilutes the potency of otherwise
respectable action. (Save for a later para-surfing
sequence the visuals of which sink far below the
impressive, logic-defying, believability of the
others. A decent idea, but not realized very well on
film.)

Not that we expect it from Bond, but many of us do
from Berry and Brosnan, there is no depth here.
Dialogue seems reserved only for quick quips, puns,
and sexual double entendre. While this verbal
regiment is mostly amusing, oddly, the meatiest lines
are left to the insomniac villain, "One of the
benefits of never sleeping, is that you have to live
your dreams."

Almost doing it on action alone, this film could
have easily scored an A with me in one of two ways:
1) More clever/comedic/quieter scenes (like the one
in which a bearded longhaired, homeless looking Bond
strolls into a high class Hong Kong hotel as if he
owns the place) to balance and contrast the ballistic
action and give better structure to the over all
production. 2) A more potent emotional and/or meaning
component.

Still, though "Die Another Day" isn't the greatest
title, it is definitely not a bad film. That torture
scene is truly excellent (there I go bringing it up
again) and that grand sword fight is worthy of a
place in the library of film's classic moments.
Bronsan continues to make a great 007 and New Zealand
director Lee Tamahori has updated the look and feel
of the lineage; in fact (aside from 007), the retro
score and musical theme may just be the most familiar
elements of this Bond.

Bond Facts:
This is the 20th Bond film. The first is "Dr. No"
(1962). Brosnan is the 5th 007, preceded by Sean
Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore and Timothy
Dalton.